When friends in older neighbourhoods remind me they still have daily mail delivery, it always stops me in my tracks. In an era where Christmas greetings are animated e-cards, Amazon trucks bring “free” deliveries, and my T4 slips and bank statements land seamlessly in my inbox, Canada Post feels like a relic from another time. Yet millions of Canadians still rely on its daily snail mail delivery – a service costing the Crown corporation billions and driving it towards an inevitable reckoning.
Today, decades after home-delivered newspapers all but disappeared, Canada Post continues to deliver physical mail to homes, even as Canadians increasingly turn to digital alternatives.
But this model is unsustainable. A Crown corporation bleeding money at its current rate would not survive in the private sector. In 2023, Canada Post reported losses of $748 million, with an additional $490 million deficit for the first half of 2024. Since 2018, cumulative losses have surpassed $3 billion. Earlier this year, the corporation warned that without borrowing another $1 billion and refinancing $500 million in current debt, it will run out of cash by early 2025.
This financial freefall underscores the systemic issues at Canada Post. It is a self-financing Crown corporation, meaning that, when it runs out of money, it will go out of business unless the federal government intervenes with an emergency bailout. Canadians, however, have already voted with their feet. According to Statistics Canada, the market share for parcel delivery has dropped from 62 per cent in 2019 to just 29 per cent by 2023. Letter mail has also declined sharply, with annual volumes falling from 5.5 billion in 2006 to 2.2 billion in 2023.
These numbers provide ample fodder for a potential Conservative government to make sweeping changes to the postal service. Even if Canada Post workers achieve their key demands, any such victory will likely be short-lived. The reality is that the postal service is succumbing to the same technology-driven disruption that has upended industries like media, retail and transportation.
Canada Post management recognizes the need for change and has proposed a dramatic shift in its operations. This includes transforming the organization into a seven-day-a-week parcel delivery service with competitive pricing and reducing the frequency of letter mail delivery. The Crown corporation has also suggested expanding the use of community mailboxes in urban areas.
Unsurprisingly, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) opposes these changes. The union argues that these shifts would create more part-time, low-wage positions, further “gigifying” Canada Post’s workforce. CUPW has voiced concerns that these changes would strip workers of benefits, pensions, and predictable hours, creating what it calls a “second-class workforce.”
The union’s resistance is understandable. Accepting such a plan would likely result in a dramatically reduced workforce, leaving many employees without jobs and weakening the union itself. However, it is equally clear that without significant reform, the postal service cannot survive in its current form.
This standoff between union and management echoes the Luddite resistance to the Industrial Revolution, but the underlying dynamics are different. Rural and remote communities, which rely heavily on postal services, are at particular risk from reduced operations. Unlike urban areas, where alternative delivery services are readily available, rural residents have fewer options. Monthly cheques and essential mail are still lifelines for many in these regions. In 2022, Statistics Canada reported that over 20 per cent of rural Canadians still rely on mail delivery for essential services.
For these communities, maintaining some form of postal service may require government subsidies, treating Canada Post as an essential service. While such subsidies could ensure rural access, they would also reinforce the need for urban areas to transition away from daily mail delivery – a service that is no longer indispensable in cities.
The question remains: can management and CUPW find a compromise? The union’s current position leaves little room for flexibility, and management’s push for drastic reforms reflects the urgency of the financial crisis. Without a meeting of minds, Canada Post risks becoming another casualty of technological progress, much like video rental stores and print newspapers before it.
Ultimately, Canada Post’s struggles highlight a broader trend of industries grappling with disruption. The postal service’s fate should serve as a wake-up call for policymakers, businesses, and unions alike. Change is inevitable, but how that change is managed will determine whether Canada Post has a future – or joins the ranks of outdated institutions consigned to the dustbin of history.
For Canadians, the postal service remains a critical link in the fabric of the country, especially for those in remote areas. However, the days of daily home delivery in urban neighbourhoods are numbered. The challenge now is to strike a balance between preserving essential services and adapting to the realities of a digital, on-demand world.
Canada Post must change – or face disappearing altogether. The stakes are high, and the time for action is now.
Doug Firby is an award-winning editorial writer with over four decades of experience working for newspapers, magazines and online publications in Ontario and western Canada. Previously, he served as Editorial Page Editor at the Calgary Herald.
The commentaries offered on SaskToday.ca are intended to provide thought-provoking material for our readers. The opinions expressed are those of the authors. Contributors' articles or letters do not necessarily reflect the opinion of any SaskToday.ca staff.
